


A flat full of hideous jumpers

by convenience



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry Potter is a Little Shit, I will add tags as I go, Ron is an idiot, Slow Burn, but he's our idiot, flat sharing, hideous jumpers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-08-17 15:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16519232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/convenience/pseuds/convenience
Summary: Draco Malfoy, ever getting himself into situations that money seems to only nearly solve, offers a spare bed in a flat he does not own to his now good friend and subject of his affections - Hermione Granger.The calamity that ensues is, well, calamity at best.





	1. Prologue

Draco looked over at Hermione as she gnawed on the tip of her pencil, only used to seeing her in this much of a state when exams were near - it was the space just before end of the school year where it was too early to worry about things, even for Hermione, and exams had passed so that you couldn’t worry about those either. He watched her for a few more seconds and then prodded her as one would prod a possibly dangerous, possibly affectionate animal. He wasn’t very sure what he and Hermione were at the moment. They were good friends, for definite. Draco just wanted to do all that stupid, sugar coated romance shit and take her away to a place of infinite tea and jumpers and that muggle music she liked - jizz? No, jazz…. Yeah, jazz.

She looked up from the grain of the oak desk they were sitting at, her honey eyes looking deep into his, the pupils getting smaller for a split second and then larger, like a refocusing camera. Another thing he had learnt off of Hermione. “Yes?” The academic girl asked, resting her chin on her palm, flexing her fingers around her jaw and looking directly into his ice blue eyes, pinning him to the ground without moving. Draco would be lying if he wasn’t a bit turned on. Then again, she could be tying her hair up and he’d still fall for her all over again.

“Are you alright?” He asked, the tone coming out too soft for a disgraced pureblood heir, just soft enough to be considered caring. “If you need a break from planning the meetin-” Draco had begun to propose that Hermione take a breather from her array of highlighters and ballpoint pens before she sharply interjected.

“No! No, I’m fine” Hermione shook her head feverently, gripping her pencil even harder and closing her eyes slightly. “I’m just under a lot of stress at the moment… and I’m practically a homeless orphan” She admitted, wanting to sink into the floor “Still fighting Ron so I can’t stay with the Weasleys. Haven’t found my folks. Think Harry’s nightmares are coming back and if they are, that means he’s sleep screaming. Means I can’t stay at his. Don’t exactly have the funds to buy a flat”

“You could stay with me? I’ve got a flat in London” Incorrect - Draco had not got a flat, but if Hermione needed somewhere to stay and it meant that they could live together outside of Hogwarts then he would be happy with buying a flat. Fucking hell, Granger really didn’t know what she did to him, did she? 

A look of relief washed over her face and Draco knew he had simultaniously fucked himself and given himself a gift. “Are you sure, Draco? I’ll pay you back in full once I get a job” Hermione promised.

“It’s fine. We probably owe you it anyway” He shrugged it off as if it was nothing, but he was so excited. He was sharing a flat with Granger. That speckly ginger fuck might actually die of an aneurism, but that was fine.


	2. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> moving in and all that cute jazz! hermione has not appeared yet but there is a lot of mention

I  
Standing in the estate agents, Draco signed the papers, now the owner of a large, two bed apartment in Baker street. God, this girl. He was aiming to buy a place of his own anyway, just a getaway for when he should need it and when he had finally had enough of his mother, but that process had sped itself up because Granger needed a place to live in too. He had handed over the cheque to the woman who was selling it. Once that ordeal was all over and he didn’t have to pretend just to be a finely dressed muggle, Draco got into a taxi and made his way to his new home with his furniture on the way.

Once he was at the door, he unlocked the door with his single key and stepped in, humming at the sight of his fresh canvas. It had no memories tied into its floorboards, and also was barren of all furniture. Including an oven. It had a sink, though, that was a positive at least. It had a sink. Within an hour, Draco had managed to apparate all his belongings in cardboard boxes into his new apartment.

Draco flicked his wand towards the boxes that stood in the living room, seeing the cutlery fly into their draws, the clothes flying into his room and hearing the drawers open and close. The sound of garments hanging themselves in his wardrobe. His mother was going to come around soon to check out the flat and well, whatever time Hermione turned up would determine if his mother knew about her - he did not need all this drama, not when they were starting to allow letters to his father’s cell. No thank you. Lucius would definitely have something unsavory to say about her, and him by extension. Either way, it was bad and he did definitely not need that at the moment, not with his mother trying to subtly shoehorn in questions about his nonexistent lovelife. She wasn’t very good at subtlety, no. Not when gagging for a grandchild. Grim. He hated children so much, with their chubby fingers and vomiting and just, ew.

Walking around the apartment, Draco trailed his hands over the white furniture - it all looked very crisp and clear, modern and somehow inspired. It reminded him nothing of the Slytherin common room or Hogwarts, but more of the Manor, of his childhood before it all went to shit and the world went upside down. Before he met Harry Potter, before the fucker got two friends and then proceeded to fight him for the better part of six years before being forced to kill Dumbledore by his fucking insane aunt who went on to torture the girl he had now fallen for. Everything had pretty much gone to shit, it was safe to say. Which, Hermione had pointed out, could only mean that it would get better. It had some merit to it, though, because they were moving in together. 

It wasn’t anything new, because they lived together last year, at school, but it was also something entirely new. Sharing a common room was probably a lot different to actually living together for real. Fuck, what if Granger snored? He so hoped that she didn’t. 

Once he had settled in and changed into comfortable slacks and a quidditch t-shirt, Draco sat on the loveseat with a cup of tea in his lithe fingers. Of course his mother had decided to enter the day he had moved in. Could Draco ever get any rest? At all?

He stood up, going to the door and setting down his tea on the kitchen island as he did so. Draco unlocked the door and was face to face with his mother, dressed up as she always was, hair as neat as Hermione’s. Maybe a little messier, as the muggleborn was always checking it when she was in public. Would she wear her hair down more often around the apartment? 

Narcissa engulfed her only child in a hug, relieved to feel his arms reach around her frame to hug her back. Her son was becoming more compassionate, and she wondered why. She hoped it was a woman. Or a man, at this point she wouldn’t object, but a woman would be better. Just for her chances of having grandchildren and all. Then again, she had reached back out to Andromeda, and she seemed to know all sorts about how gay couples could have children. Draco being happy was the most important thing, though. He had been put through so much.

“Draco! Well, this is certainly a beautiful place. May I come in?” Narcissa asked politely, stepping back from her son as to stop the embrace before it got particularly weird. 

He nodded, stepping back to let her in and then closing the door 9once she had done so.

“So,why not a house, Draco? We can afford it, after all. What’s the point in downsizing with no purpose to?” Narcissa asked idly, confused at her son’s purchase.

“I just needed somewhere small, mother. It is one of the biggest apartments, and it’s not far from the ministry” Draco answered, picking up his tea again and sipping it “Would you like a drink? I only have tea and coffee at the moment, you arrived only an hour after I did” He gave her a hint of a smile as he walked round to the kettle. Hermione had taught him how to make it himself and it tasted a lot better than the charm for it.

“Coffee, thank you” Narcissa answered, perching on the white sofa “This certainly reminds me of the manor… will you be having anyone over? Any women?” She added quite blatantly.

“Mother… You do know I am in no rush to fall in love, don’t you?” Draco asked, brewing the coffee. He wasn’t lying to her, no. He wasn’t planning on falling for anyone else.

“I know, but if you get around to it once you’re thirty, the attractive women your age will have already had a few children and will be married. I just want you to be happy with someone”

“Thank you” Draco hummed, just wanting the world to close in on him for a second “I am sure that when the time comes, I will be quite happy with someone, but for now I am focusing on getting a job and beginning a new name for the malfoys”

“Okay. You’ve become a lot more compassionate in these past few months, I’m glad. Surprised that women aren’t hanging off of you. I also came around to tell you that your Aunt Andromeda would like to visit you with her grandson, Edward. We are reconnecting, and I’m surprised they’d even want to talk to us” Narcissa commented happily, taking the cup of coffee from Draco gratefully.

“Oh, uhm. Sure” Draco nodded “How old is the child? Not too young, right?” He really hated children. It better be able to ask for things

“No, no, not a newborn” Narcissa shook her head dismissively “I’ll tell Andromeda to come round next week? Tuesday?”

Draco nodded, somewhat in defeat. He knew his mother, and she had basically just told him that the child was just over newborn. Maybe six months? God knows. He’d have to warn Hermione too, though she’d probably be good with the creatures with her affectionate nature and affinity for small helpless creatures. “That’d be great; thank you mother”


	3. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione moves in, and the eye fucking is intense.
> 
> tumblr- convenienc-e / buttersmycrossaint

Hermione beamed brightly as her best friend came into view at the end of the road - they were outside her parents’ house, and Harry was just what she needed to get through moving all of her things. Her clothes were already in boxes at Harry’s flat, as she’d slept over for the past week whilst Draco ‘sorted things out’. If she ever really understood the tall pureblood she would be more shocked than Ron when he found out that she was moving in with Draco. Which was saying something, because Ron had genuinely gone a very peculiar shade of red.

Harry grinned at her and did a strange combination of a run and a walk - not quite a jog, but it was something - towards her and embraced her tightly. “C’mon, bride-to-be! Let’s find your secret diary and sneakily throw it at Draco!” He enthused, obviously joking, though Hermione wouldn’t put it past him. Unlike Ron, Harry had maintained correspondence with Hermione through eighth year and had watched Hermione become close friends with Draco, and heard about how he had changed. Of course, he was slightly worried - Hermione had days of unspeakable paranoia and anxiety, with a pained head to match. If Draco couldn’t put up with it and kicked her out, he would very happily kill him. On the spot. But, for the moment, he was making Hermione happier than she had been in a very long time, and if Draco was the thing that made Hermione shush those dark thoughts in her head, then he could learn to buy thoughtful christmas presents for the both of them. 

He could see where Ron was coming from, of course. Ron was 90% heart and 10% limbs, and he cared about Hermione as much as Harry did. Ron just wanted Hermione to be safe, of course, and it tended to run over what was considered normal for a friend. Harry needed to talk to him about that, as well. One kiss when you think you’re about to die is not enough to base a whole relationship on, and even if it was, Hermione clearly did not want it. Either way, Ron would surely get over it, he hoped.

“Harry!” Hermione laughed, opening the front garden gate and walking through first, looking back at him as she would when faced with something like a death eater. “Come on, if you want to be allowed to look at my teenage room, you’ve got to help me move my stuff” She teased, pulling him towards the door and closing the gate.

Fishing the key out of her pocket, she unlocked the door, and her mouth opened upon reflex to announce to her mum and dad that she was home. The realisation of this made her gasp slightly and her stomach plummeted. She was determined to find her parents, but sometimes they felt even further than half the world away either side. Sometimes they felt so far that they just didn’t exist. 

“Mione” Harry’s voice softly interrupted what would have been a painful thought cycle “Let’s get your stuff and go, yeah? ‘S all okay. You’re going to live with Draco Malfoy and then you two are going to get married and live on a farm with three children all named after authors. One of them has Harry as a middle name, though. Or maybe all three”

Harry was very good at making up bullshit. This proved especially useful for when Ron or Hermione needed distracting.

Hermione gave him a soft smirk once she had come back into her own head, gunning for the stairs before she could look at all the pictures she had disappeared from “And if they’re three girls?”

“Like I said. Harry” Harry told her, racing her up the stairs and entering her bedroom - it had greyish lilac walls, meticulously clean. Of course they were, this was Hermione’s bedroom after all. “We keeping all the books?” He asked, but knew the answer. Hermione didn’t believe in throwing away books, or even repurposing them.

“Keep all the books, throw them in the bag” Hermione nodded towards a new endless bag stretched out to fit some of her bigger possessions. “Once you’re done with the books, reducio the bookcase to a dollhouse size and put it in the bag. Got it?”

“Yes sergeant” He saluted cheekily and narrowly avoided a swat on the arm.

Once everything was in her bag, she put it in her backpack and stepped out the house, dragging Harry along with her so that she didn’t spend any more time in the house than necessary. There is only so many times you can see your parents’ smiling faces and not break down when you’ve been plagued with homesickness for more than two years. That limit for Hermione was once.

Eventually they made it back to Harry’s flat, and Hermione was buzzing once she read the address that Draco had given her once again. Baker street. Honestly, why did he not say anything while she went on and on about the Sherlock Holmes series? 

“Come on, Juliet, let’s get going. Holding your jumpers is making my coolness decrease” Harry teased, opening the door - the boxes had been shrunk to fit in another backpack.

“Fine. You’re paying for the taxi though” She narked back, slipping the piece of paper back into her back pocket.

 

~~~

 

Hermione knocked on the door, and it was opened within seconds. She was greeted with a smiling Draco in slacks and a t shirt. Cozy. Hermione had only had the pleasure of seeing him in his uniform and his normal public outfit - black slacks, a pressed shirt and a thin jumper that was more for style than warmth. It was nice to see him actually comfy.

“Heya, hope we’ve not come at an awkward time?” Hermione asked, stepping in the apartment, taking a second to take in the decor and just how ‘Draco’ the whole place was already. 

“No, no, it is fine. Potter, come in” Draco hummed, a smile on his lips as he closed the door behind them. “Granger, there is no way that you have everything you own in that backpack” He told her, leaning against the counter.

“That,Draco,is where you are incorrect. Reducio charms and charmed bags. Where there is a will” Hermione told him with a returned smirk. “This is a nice place, and on Baker street too. Sherlock Holmes lived on the same street”

Harry saw the relieved look on Draco’s face when she announced that Sherlock lived her, and had a niggling idea that brought a smirk to his face. He looked towards Hermione with a smile, not wanting to watch the pair eye fuck eachother for too long. It may turn him off of both men and women altogether.

“Hermione, I’m going to get going. Ron’s going to get to my flat before I am at this rate, and he doesn’t have a key” He gave her a side hug and set his backpack on the counter. “I’ll see you soon, Malfoy. I warn you, she cannot cook for the life of he-”

“Goodbye, Harry!” Hermione called, nudging him out of the door with a blush. Once she had shut him out she picked up the bag with her clothes in, looking at Draco with a smile.

“Want me to give you a tour? Judging by Potter’s words, I shouldn’t bother showing you the kitchen?” He remarked jovially.

“Draco, we are in the kitchen.” Hermione stated abruptly, looking smug as she did so. 

“You win this one, Granger, but I will have my vengance” Draco told her with conviction, leading her through the apartment and giving her a tour.

Once the tour had been given with dramatic flair and all, Hermione unpacked as Draco cooked. Having let her hair down and pulled on one of her nicer jumpers - cable knit and maroon coloured, Hermione made her way into the kitchen, leaning against the wall “Need any help? Not that I’d be much help”

“Nah, I’m just fine. There are drinks in the fridge, help yourself. Glasses in the cupboard to my left… Do you by chance know about Potter’s godson?” Draco asked, nudging over a bit so that Hermione could reach the glasses without having to really press up against him. Fuck, why did he do that?

“Who, Teddy?” She asked, pouring herself some lemonade “Oh, lord! You’re Andromeda’s nephew, right?” Hermione added, proud of herself for doing the family tree correctly in her head.

“Yes. My mother is sending them here, this tuesday, something about reconnecting” He nodded, sizzling the stir fry in the frying pan “I don’t know if I’ve mentioned, Hermione, but I despise children intensely”

“You have. I’ll be here, though, so if you get uncomfortable you could just hand him to me? He has liked me all of the times that we’ve met.” Hermione suggested, shrugging “Cheerful babe, but he’s metamorphagi so you never know what he’ll look like next”

“Of course he is. His mother was, from what I know” Draco hummed “But I never met her. She was Hufflepuff and I was forbidden to talk to her anyway”

“She was funny. You’d like her. You do know that Remus is the child’s father, right?”

“...Professor Lupin?” Draco winced.

“Yeah.” Hermione nodded “Just a warning, before it hits you when they mention it. Do you want a drink?”

“After all that information? Why are you asking?” He joked, chuckling “Lemonade, thanks”

Draco served up and sat across from Hermione, only then able to witness the unspoken beauty of the highly strung girl so cosy and warm. It did something to his chest, and there was nothing he could do but take a sip of his drink to fill the silence.

“The food’s great, Draco, I didn’t expect you to be such an amazing cook” She complimented, tucking a strand of her curly hair behind her ear.

“Is that because I’m from a family with lots of money or because I look incompetent?” He asked with a smirk.

“Both, I mean… you’ve never beaten my grades, have you, Malfoy?” She quipped back, resting her chin in her palm, pinning him to the ground with her eyes as she had a habit of doing.

“Mhm, but, Hermione, I have managed to cook dinner, while your closest friend suggests you are troubled by a toaster” Draco chuckled, giving her the eye contact back.

Hermione nearly let out a gasp as her heart dropped through her gut. Draco didn’t make /that/ type of eye contact much at all, and so when he did, it winded her completely. “Where’d you learn to cook, anyway?”

“My mother. Cooking is really quite easy once you get the hang of it, Hermione. I could teach you, if you’d like?”

“Yeah, that’d be great. Hogwarts has really spoiled me when it comes to food, huh”

“Just a bit, but don’t worry, there is no-one I can’t knock down a peg or two” He replied with what could only be described as a devilish smirk.

Hermione so hoped he was right about that.


	4. 3

“Granger?” Draco called from the small living room “Granger how do I work this bloody thing?” He had been struggling with the television for the past 10 minutes and was already quite prepared to be done with it.

Hermione walked in from the kitchen, a bowl of granola in her hands as she sat on the sofa next to him “Draco, have you been bested by a tv?” She asked with a quiet laugh, setting her breakfast down on the coffee table and picking up the remote from his lap.

“No” He hummed, then paused “Okay slightly, slightly. It is a muggle thing, why should I know about it?”

“God, how you survived without me I’ll never know. What time is Andromeda coming round with Teddy? I haven’t seen them in a very long time, think I should change?” Hermione asked, walking over to the TV and turning it on at the wall. 

“Unless they have a particular grudge against hideous jumpers, no, you look great as always” He smirked, ducking as she ran back over to swat him playfully. 

“Oi, these are comfy” Hermione scoffed, sitting down and crossing her legs “Right.. Let’s set this up then. Do you really know nothing about muggle culture? Because that is appalling.”

After an hour of Hermione surfing through channels with Draco, they had settled on a nature documentary. Draco was fascinated, never having seen a film or a tv show in his life. He was asking questions occasionally as Hermione did the washing up, her jumper sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

There was a knock at the door and Draco got up to answer it, regretting opening it as soon as he did. Molly Weasley was staring him dead in the face and looked a very funny red colour that he thought may be a Weasley trait.

“Mrs Weasley, come in” Draco smiled politely, and then frowned slightly as he was ignored and barged past in an effort no doubt to get to Hermione.

Hearing Draco welcome the woman, Hermione groaned and dried her hands, leaving the dirty dishes in the sink for now and plastered on a smile “Mrs Weasley. Is everything alright?” Surely the only reason that the woman would visit her was to announce a death, and even then she’d make Harry or Ginny do it. For sure.

“Hermione, I didn’t know you were having to live with him. Are you safe? If you need somewhere to sleep, you know there’s always a bed at our house for you” Molly gushed, taking her hands “You do realise what he is”

“I am quite fine, thank you very much, Molly. I chose to live with Draco, and I am having a brilliant time!” Hermione huffed, pulling back her hands “I do realise what he is, he’s my friend, and if you actually cared about me like you pretend to do, you’d respect that and him!” She exclaimed, hands on her hips. Hermione looked over at Draco, who looked incredibly offended at Molly’s statement and somehow also touched by hers. 

“I should have known you’d react like this, poor Ron has offered you nothing but support and you’ve blown it back in his face” Molly told her with a hum.

“Ron has done the same as you, and insulted my life choices in the hope that I’ll ‘come to my senses’. I’ve come to my senses, finished my education, and now I’m living with someone whom I’m entirely happy with. I am very sure that Ron will come around, he has been my best friend for half my life. You, on the other hand? If you happen to never talk to me again, it will be a mere name off of the Christmas card list”

Hermione heard Draco choke on air and found it hard to keep her composure as she watched him mute himself and then die laughing behind her back.

“Oh! Well, I’ll be off then.” Molly huffed, heading towards the door, full of anger - Hermione was making a big mistake!

“Goodbye! Tell Ginny I said hi” She called sarcastically, closing the door behind her and then unmuting Draco. Hermione laughed with him, sinking down to sit against the door. 

“Wow, Hermione Granger, what a sight it is to see you angry. The last time I saw it, there was a fist in my face and you broke my nose” He smirked, helping her up and then going to finish the dishes himself “Want to talk to me about Weasley? If that would help? Can’t have you pent up and angry around my cousin and aunt” He added, turning the tap on.

Hermione sat herself on the counter and hummed “Nah, it’s fine. Was I a bit harsh?”

“Not at all. I’m sure that comment about the christmas cards will stick with her forever, though, I know it’ll stick with me” He chuckled “Sending all the weasley spawn one but not Molly might be a way to embellish the message, if you should so choose.”

Hermione let out a laugh, dangling her legs off of the counter “Only if you sign your name next to mine on each one in cursive” She replied with a hum, looking over at him for a second, admiring the view and reminding herself just why short sleeves were so useful. Arms. Scarred lightly from Harry’s sectumsempra attack. She then realised how alike they were, maybe why she had been so quick to lose any grudge she had previously held.

“Naturally, Hermione, naturally.”

~~~

Andromeda knocked on the door to the flat, smiling as she was met with Draco, who looked so much like his mother that there was no way he couldn’t be her son. Draco welcomed her with a hug and opened the door wider so that the woman could walk through, the baby perched on her hip giggling excitedly and changing his hair to his own silver blonde.

“Granger, Andromeda’s here!” Draco called through the flat - it had become more homey with Hermione in it. There was a jumper strewn across the back of a chair, her current book set upon the coffee table. It was insane how love could infect you so much that you’d romantacise one of the ugliest fucking jumpers you’d ever seen. Seriously Granger, orange and red chevrons?

“Narcissa didn’t mention you were living with anyone” Andromeda told him with a soft smile, sitting down on the sofa and letting Teddy sit next to her, changing his hair to his grandmother’s long locks again.

Hermione walked out into the living room, smiling bright as the sun. Of course she did, Draco thought with a grimace, and now so was he.

“Hello Andromeda, Teddy. Would either of you like a drink?” Hermione asked, unable to wipe a smile off of her face as she saw the toddler.

“I’d like a tea, thank you” The older woman responded, a smile on her face as she saw the couple interact - Draco had dove in to offer to make tea, and she was getting mugs out. 

Hermione sat down on the sofa, crossing her legs and giving Teddy a small wave. He returned it with a grin, crawling across the sofa towards her, his hair turning into the same textured mass as hers.

The young woman lost herself in entertaining the baby and talking to Andromeda, mostly entertaining the baby, though. It was only when Draco had sat down with them and shuffled closer so that it would look like he moderately cared about children that Andromeda asked her question.

“So, how long have you two been together?” 

Sure, the question was kind in intent, but it turned them both red and spluttering.

“Oh, we’re not- We’re just sharing a flat” Draco and Hermione rushed to defend themselves so eagerly that it had the opposite effect on the old woman. She just nodded with a smile and accepted it, but knew the inevitable. 

Andromeda had been one of Hogwarts’ worst divination students, but even she could see where it was about to go. Maybe landing them in some babysitting would help nudge the couple together…

After a while, the conversation had turned back to more pleasant subjects, and Draco announced that he had had an interview as a curse breaker that morning. Hermione was sure that he would get the role, of course, but he wasn’t too sure. Who would really hold a grudge against him who was in power? Kingsley? Laughable.

“I’m sure you’ll get it, Draco, you’re more than qualified - how many times have you managed to break my curses?”

“Silencio charms on my friends do not count” Draco joked, making Andromeda chuckle.

“Would it be alright if you two babysat Teddy one of the nights this week? Ted wants to take me out to France, but we’ll be back within a day” Andromeda asked, looking over at the way Teddy had attached himself to his cousin.

“Sure, no problem” Hermione nodded “What night?”

“Monday night? If that’d be okay with you? I’d ask Harry but he’s in between Hogwarts and his apartment at the moment, I hear”

“That’d be great” Draco replied politely. He was beginning to be incessantly annoyed by both his mother and his aunt.


	5. 4

Draco let out a hum as he ran his fingers across the ministry envelope, Hermione waiting anxiously only inches away, a cheery smile on her face to encourage him.

“C’mon, Draco, I’m sure it’s positive, just open it. The contents won’t change if we stand here worrying” Hermione told him honestly, her hand resting gently on his forearm “If you don’t get it, I’ll storm the ministry. You’re perfectly qualified - over qualified, even”

He peeled off the wax seal and opened the envelope, discarded it and then unfolded the letter after glancing up at Hermione, his good luck charm.  
“Mr. D. Malfoy,  
We would like to congratulate you on besting the other candidates, and we would also like to offer you your first case as soon as you get to work on Monday.

Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic”

Draco announced with a grin, putting the letter down and finding himself dragged into Granger’s arm, her head against his shoulder as she wrapped herself around him. He could smell the coconut oil she used in her hair as he wrapped himself around her in turn, grinning like a fool.

“See? I was right again. Another point to Hermione Granger” She smiled, looking at him “Wonder what your first case ‘ll be, huh?”

“Wonder if I’ll be partnered with anyone” He added dreamily, his arms still around her. “Hey, would you like to go out tonight? Celebrations and all? I’ll pay.”

“Sure” The bushy haired girl grinned, reading over the letter herself “Wow, Draco. You start on monday, huh?”

“Obviously, it is what it says in the letter” He smirked “It also means that I will likely not be back until around evening, by which the child will have starved if you haven’t fed it all day.. An impromptu cooking lesson is in order, I think”

“Right, but in the morning? It’s friday, we have a while. Plus, I don’t want to ruin your appetite when you’re about to pay for a meal for us”

“Using me for my money, Granger? Well, well. You live with someone for a month and it all changes, huh?”

“Oh shush, you love me” She smirked, walking off into the kitchen, poking her head around the doorframe for a second “Tea, Curse Breaker Malfoy?”

Draco chuckled, nodding “That would be great, oh brightest witch of our generation”

“A bit louder for the people in the back, please, Draco!” Hermione grinned, boiling the water in the kettle with a flick “I do remember a particular platinum haired boy refuting that when I was at school”

“Weasley lowered your group’s collective iq” Draco joked back, getting up and getting two mugs out to save Hermione from doing it - they were in the high cupboard that Hermione struggled to reach.

“He’s more heart than head, admittedly. He’ll come round, though, he always does. Just as I’m about to kill him” She chuckled, letting him reach over her to get the mugs, feeling him press up against her neck for a second. 

“Convenient for him. What about Potter? I always thought you and Weasley were closer than you were with him” Draco asked conversationally, handing her the milk.

“No, no. Me and Harry have almost never had a proper argument, although he can be one of the thickest people I know. I wouldn’t say that I’m closer with Harry, though.” She muttered, passing over his tea and then sat on the counter. “What time do you want to go out?”

“Hm… an hour or so?” Draco suggested “Are we going to go to a muggle place or a wizarding? We’ll need to visit Gringotts if muggle, I don’t have any muggle money on me”

“Wizarding it is then, Gringotts should be shut for the night by now. Do you know any good places?”

“Yeah, ‘course. What kind of snob do you take me for, Granger?” He teased.

“One who’s gonna buy me food” Hermione winked, sipping her tea and laughing as Draco nearly spat out his tea.

\----

Draco and Hermione had finished up their meals, now full to the brim with almost ridiculously delicious food. He had taken great pleasure in spoiling her rotten and not letting her see the bill, as he knew she would try to give him a split of the money although she was almost impoverished at the moment herself, dipping into her fund occasionally now she was legally an adult.

He wrapped an arm around her as they walked down the cobbled streets, too tired to apparate. They were both slightly tipsy, admittedly, but not so much that they couldn’t look after themselves. 

“Draco” Hermione hummed, the alcohol loosening her spirits slightly and easing her tension “Your family don’t know about me, do they? Not Andromeda or Ted, but your mother. She doesn’t”

“No” He admitted, and saw her mouth open to say something that would probably be a painful truth “Please, just let me. I want to say my piece before you decide I’m a dick”

“You’re not a dick. You can be a dick sometimes, but not often. Anyway, go on” Hermione told him with a hum, leading him towards the direction of their flat.

“If it gets out that we’re living together, and you want a job anywhere with a well paying position, they’ll reject you. You, Hermione Granger, are fucking brilliant, and smart, and sometimes vicious. They’ll think I’ve turned you into some dark witch,and the only time you’ve shown an inkling of that is when you threatened Molly Weasley with a christmas card list that doesn’t exist.” Draco told her honestly, his words clear in the dark streets as they walked down Baker street

“Draco… I thought you knew me better than to think people’s opinions could stop me.” Hermione told him with one of her cheerful smiles “I will just do what I want and if there is an obstacle, I will obliterate it. Did it with Hogwarts, did it with he-who-lost-his-nose, and I’ll do it with everything else. Depends on whether you can handle the brightest witch of your age, Draco” She teased, shuffling for her keys.

“The brightest witch of her age sorely needs a chef and a tall person, Hermione, not to mention someone who can handle the constant banter you churn out” He quipped back, gently taking her keys from her and unlocking their apartment door. 

Hermione nodded with a giddy smile, turning on the lights and sitting on the sofa “One drink Hermione is known to be strangely confident, by the way.”

“...You have a Hermione scale of drunkenness?” Draco asked with a smile, taking his coat and scarf off. How adorable. The young man could almost bet his life savings that she had collected the data in a colour coded spreadsheet and then formatted it into a graph.

“You don’t?” Hermione asked incredulously, then mellowed as he came to sit next to her. “If your mum comes round, will you introduce us? Like, properly?”

“What as?”

“Hermione, preferably”

“No, Granger” He chuckled softly “I mean, what do you want me you to say that you are in relation to me?”

“Whatever you think fits. You’re on a whole other level of poshness that I can’t even begin to understand, Draco”

“Poshness?”

“Exactly. I’m eloquent when it comes to public interactions and writing, but in private? Whooooomph” She exaggerated, leaning her head on his shoulder, making him tense for a second and then relax, dropping an arm around her.

That’s how they fell asleep, Hermione tucked under his arm, kept safe from the world above. For one night only, she wasn’t awoken abruptly by maniacal laughter and whispering down her ear, daggers against her forearm. She was woken up by Draco watching a rather pleasant documentary on honeybees, and Hermione was more than sure that she’d fallen once again.

“Mornin’ Draco” Hermione mumbled, untangling herself from his arm and putting a quick wandless spell on her hair “I’m gonna go have a shower, I feel grotty. What time is it?”

“Ten thirty” He told her with a yawn “Want me to do you some breakfast for when you’ve showered? Bacon sandwich?” Draco offered, both being polite and having underlying concern that Hermione would skip a couple meals without noticing. 

“Draco Malfoy you godsend” She groaned, wrapping herself around him for a tight hug and then sauntering off into the hallway. 

As Hermione showered and then got changed, Draco fried up some bacon for her and tried desperately not to think of Hermione in the shower. Oh, come on Draco, think of your mother or something. 

A knock resonated through the door and Draco regretted thinking of the woman immediately. He turned the hob off and answered the door, only to be embraced in another hug by his mother. She proceeded to preen over him and beam as she sat on one of the armchairs, then turned her head to the sound of footsteps from the hallway. 

Draco gave his bushy haired friend a smile and remembered their tipsy conversation “Mum, this is Hermione, Hermione, mum” He introduced them to each other and then quickly made the bacon sandwich, handing it to her on a plate.

“So, I had come around orginally to ask about how you were getting on with finding someone, but as I don’t need to ask about that, I’ll ask about my sister and thank you for making sure that I don’t need to babysit the demon child” Narcissa told him with a smile, about to die of happiness. Just when she thought all hope was lost for her secluded, introverted son, he moves an intelligent girl in and smiles at her as Lucius did her when they were but teenagers.

“Teddy isn’t a horrific child, in all fairness. Hermione is extremely good with children and house elves - anything defenceless, really - and so her help makes it a lot easier” Draco smirked, watching Hermione tinge red but gulped as he saw her smirk back with that glint in her eyes that pinned him down.

“Maybe that’s why we are so close, Draco” Hermione teased, giving him a sarcastic smile as she finished her sandwich and went to sit with Draco and Narcissa.

The woman chuckled, recognising the fierce wit as something that would be vital in standing her ground against stroppy Draco. “So, Draco, I hear you got an interview at the ministry?”

“I got the job. Curse breaker” Draco announced proudly “I get my first case on monday”

“Excellent! And yourself, Hermione?”

Draco watched Hermione get uncomfortable for a second, knowing she hated not providing for herself and other people and then answered for her “Hermione has been working on a particularly difficult case that the Ministry are yet to solve, involving her own parents”

“I wish you all the luck in finding them, and if the case needs any funding, Draco knows about the family vault” Narcissa smiled, an incredibly friendly interaction for her to complete.

“Thank you, Mrs Malfoy, but-”

“Call me Narcissa, and don’t worry about it”

For once in a long long time, Draco was extremely thankful for his mother.


	6. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any suggestions or comments, my tumblr is open! (and of course so is the comment section)
> 
> -convenienc-e

Draco gave Hermione a hug, dressed up in his coat and clean pressed suit. She hugged him back, messing with his collar slightly to make it straighter and stepping back with a smile. “I’ll see you in a bit, Curse breaker. Me and Teddy will be fine, when he comes. Now go get that case” She encouraged him, opening the door and letting him go through. The witch was incredibly happy for him - she had known that being a curse breaker was Draco’s ideal job, and that he had expected rejection after submitting his name.

The case, the thing that had made Draco hug her and made him smile like he had seen the heavens, was the only thing worrying her. It could take him anywhere, and for however long. As she closed the door, Hermione closed her eyes and leant against the counter. She wouldn’t let him move so far away, be like her parents and go to places she could only dream of retrieving them from. To distract herself from the looming thoughts, Hermione put on her favourite jazz cd and set to work with cleaning the apartment spick and span, not wanting Teddy to accidentally pick up a discarded bobby pin or ancient textbook.

That task, though, was already taking less time than she would have preferred. Draco, on the other hand, was alive. He sat at his desk and looked over the file, beaming. Of course, the case itself was horrific and it had been a tragedy - but he had a case! He had the dream case, he really did. How Hermione was going to deal with going away with him to Australia was another thing completely.

As Hermione rearranged her room and her filing cabinets, there was a ring on the doorbell and she could almost scream with happiness. She needed some distraction and Teddy was just that.

The woman ran to the door, opening it with a smile and embracing Andromeda “Andromeda, nice to see you” Hermione greeted her, letting her in and taking Teddy into her own arms once Andromeda passed him to her - he was getting heavy now, and Andromeda was getting frail. Hermione hoped she wasn’t sick.

Teddy played with the wool of her jumper, his hair turning the same dark afro brown as hers, making her smile. Babies always had a way o cheering her up. Hermione turned to the boy’s grandmother, still holding Teddy securely “Do you want a cup of tea? Coffee?”

“No thank you dear - everything of Teddy’s is in that bag” The woman gestured over to the large white beach bag that she had placed on the sofa next to her “He normally sleeps extremely well, but if not, try warm milk and affection. Works a trick. I hear Draco got the job?”

“He did. Curse breaker Malfoy” Hermione nodded, proud of her… friend.

“And how are you two?” Andromeda asked with the same smile that Narcissa had.

“We’re great. He took me out for a meal the other night, to celebrate his job. Wouldn’t let me even pay a penny, of course”

“About time someone looks after you, from what I’ve heard. Harry says you have a tendency to look after people before yourself, and after hearing so much, I can believe it. You’re even letting Teddy yank your hair out although it’s clear you’re in pain”

Hermione blushed softly, sitting down across from her with the babe now resting on her thigh “It’s what you do for the people you love, and as for Teddy? He’s just adorable. Even Draco likes him, and Draco has vehemently hated babies since I’ve met him”

Andromeda then wondered how dense the brightest witch of recorded history could be. It was clear that Draco’s main focus when Hermione and Teddy were concerned, and they were cuddled up on the sofa playing peek-a-boo, was not Teddy. Would she have to smash their heads together for them to make some sense of their situation? “Mhm” She answered passively, checking the time “I’ve got to go back, dear, owl me if there is anything wrong with Teddy, or get someone to apparate to our hotel.”

“Alright. I’m sure that we’ll be fine, though, won’t we, Ted?” Hermione beamed, pressing a kiss to the baby’s chubby cheek. Teddy grinned and waved goodbye back to his grandma as she left, thus starting a surprisingly calm afternoon.

Once Draco was at the apartment door, he heard soft jazz music coming through the door and smiled slightly, almost about to put his key in the door. That’s when he heard the singing - soft, melodic and somehow so intrinsically uniform that it screamed of Hermione. He unlocked the door with as much delicacy and quiet as he could. As he stepped in, he made eye contact with Hermione, who pressed a finger to her lips as to tell him to shush. It took him a second to realise why, but there was Teddy, his tiny fists gripping the wool of her jumper as he slept peacefully. The image nearly melted him down into nothing but a puddle.

Draco made his way over, turning down the cd player gradually. “Do you need any help?” He whispered to her “Are your arms getting tired? He’s a big baby”

“No, no, it’s fine. He’s adorable. Would you mind setting up his crib? It’s minimised in that bag” She nodded towards the large bag “I would, but I’m scared of disturbing him.”

“Sure.” Draco nodded, taking out his wand and the crib, placing it on the floor and resizing it until it was right.

“So, how was your day? What’s your case like?” Hermione asked, placing Teddy gently in his crib with his toy wolf and then sitting back down, keeping a very close eye on the babe as he slept.

“Unbelievable. It does mean a change of scenery, though, if you’re ready for that? I know going around the world for a job is a bit much, but it’s a case I’m really passionate about, and I want you there with me” Draco told her, passing her the neat folder.

First of all, Hermione judged the durability of the binder. She was not impressed to say the least “Draco, please tell me you haven’t done this? The tabs aren’t even cascading, this is a mess”

“Ministry done” He answered with a chuckle “I can tell them to step up their game if you would like?”

“That would be great, thank you. Now, what’s got you so pa-” Hermione lost her breath, her gut dropped down through the apartment complex “Draco, this is my parents’ information, they assigned you my parents?”

“Will you come with me? I have a feeling you’ll know them better, even if they don’t know you yet” Draco asked demurely, not expecting the tears to fall from Hermione’s eyes that did.  
“We’re going to find my parents, huh?” Hermione smiled, gently wiping at the tears and standing up. “Of course I’m in, Draco. I already have a more intense file about the case, we can look it over tomorrow.”

She made her way over to the cd player, turning it up again so that it was loud enough to be heard but not loud enough for it to wake Teddy “Dance with me, curse breaker Malfoy?” Hermione asked, holding out her arms “What was all that yule ball prep for if we weren’t going to use it?”

Draco chuckled, walking towards her and correcting her position, dancing with her “It was only for you - I had dancing lessons as a child”

“Mhm… you sound so posh right now, Draco, but you do remember that you went to the same school as this middle class witch? You could’ve gone to beauxbatons with all the rich pretty french girls” Hermione teased, letting him spin her and then coming back into his arms “Could’ve learned ribbon dancing”

 

“What would the point be in that? There was a particular muggleborn who I needed to try and beat at everything… once she punched me in the face, and I thought ‘well, I really need to beat her now’” Draco told her, his hand resting on her waist.

“You never beat her, though, did you?”

No, I fell in love with her, Draco thought. “No, no I didn’t. Got to know her, though, and that is so much more valuable than beating her at any test her brilliant mind could come up with”

And for a moment, it seemed as if they were going to kiss, as if the wait was finally over. Sweet little Teddy’s cries interrupted them and Draco darted to turn down the music as Hermione picked him up with her tender hands, doing all she could to calm the babe down as she panicked.

Draco reached around her to pass the crying babe the wolf plush, which lessened the bawling slightly. This would be one of the first outbursts of the night, leading in the couple sleeping in the living room with the babe, getting as much sleep as they could.

Suddenly Hermione could see why Draco wasn’t a fan.


	7. 6

Draco woke first, feeling Hermione’s hair balloon around their heads in a protective layer. Teddy was asleep in the space inbetween them, holding onto their arms protectively. There was no way to get up without accidentally waking her, and so Draco lay there, only noticing his protective arm around her waist when she had shuffled even closer till their foreheads touched. Teddy woke softly, blinking and looking around just as Draco closed his eyes again, more than happy to get extra sleep in.

Teddy clambered up towards Draco’s chest and gripped the jumper that was wearing in his tiny fists, begging him for attention. Feeling his jumper being yanked away from his body, Draco groaned and opened his eyes “Hello Ted… What do you want?” He asked softly, still half asleep. “Mione and I were up all night with you… She’s a bloody saint”

He looked over at the toddler once again and hummed, checking his watch “Time for breakfast, I think. Hermione would kill me if I let her mess up her sleep schedule”

As he tried to ease himself off of the sofa, Hermione rolled over to lie in the space he had been, frowning in her sleep as she didn’t feel him near her.

Draco picked Teddy up and avoided thinking about it too much, making Teddy some breakfast. Eventually Hermione padded her way into the kitchen, smiling and rubbing her eyes tiredly “I see you’re getting on well?”

“He’s too young to talk” Draco hummed, sizzling bacon in the pan “Makes it easier. You want any bacon?”

“Yes please. Dromeda should be coming to pick him up in a bit, then we can get to work with my parents. Is there a plan?”

“Well, we need to build up trust with them, and the ministry have given us a house on their road. I understand it is muggle custom that we introduce ourselves? There’s our open to talk to them, surely. Although they don’t know they know you, they’ll find themselves wanting to know you again without knowing why. We lure them in to dinner, and then cast the right charms. The only issue is finding a charm that will work 100% effectively… or making one.”

“What are the repercussions if it doesn’t work?” Hermione asked, feeding Teddy whilst she tried to figure out the plan in her head.

“The repercussions are that it doesn’t work, and your parents still don’t know who they are. At the minute it’s a three out of four chance, but I would prefer four out of four”

“We can try again if it doesn’t work the first time, right?”

“Of course”

“Then why are we waiting?” Hermione asked, looking over at him “75% chance each time - probability states that at least one of the times, we’re going to win”

“If you say so. I just don’t want to do anything to your family that you wouldn’t like”

“Draco, there are going to be many things that I don’t like about this case. Seeing my parents will be one of them. But you have this case, and you have it because you are qualified for it. I know I’m always right - which I am - but you are right a good 99% of the time, so trust yourself”

“You have the extra percent, huh?” Draco chuckled, passing her a bacon sandwich and sitting down to have his own

“Naturally, Draco” Hermione joked with a smirk, biting into her sandwich “Can’t have anyone better than me, sorry, not even you”

“Not even me? Charming, Granger” He commented, leaning against the counter “Charming.”

“Don’t really know quite what you expected from me” She quipped back, watching Teddy.

\---

It reached midday and Andromeda had just left the flat with Teddy in her arms. Hermione threw herself across the sofa after seeing them out, resting her legs on Draco’s. “We need to look at the file, huh… figure out a plan”

“Yeah… I was thinking we just move in and start talking to our new neighbors? We’ll need an alibi, and to lie about your last name” Draco hummed, placing his hands on her calves.

“We could pretend to be a couple?” Hermione suggested softly, propping herself up against the cushions “They’ve always been particularly soft for young love. It’ll be like a moth to a flame”

“Newly married, then? You’d just be Hermione Malfoy, it saves thinking of a fake name” Draco suggested with uncertainty, looking over at her to gauge her reaction.

She nodded, almost too vigorously to be subtle or casual. The idea of being called Hermione Malfoy did something particularly strange to her stomach. Ginny had told her about butterflies, but Hermione was feeling moths with massive gaping wings taking flight inside her gut.

“So… we’re married, from England, and moving into their road?” Hermione checked “...We don’t have rings, do you think they’ll notice?”

“They’re smart people, so most likely. We can go and get rings before we leave” Draco decided, giddy with the idea of being married to Hermione, even if she wasn’t feeling the same way as him. She did suggest it, though, so surely she must? No, she just wants her family back. Would she move back with them? Surely, she would, she’d miss them. Draco hoped he was wrong, because living with her had been one of the most pleasant things to happen to him in one of the longest times.

“You gonna get me a posh girl ring?” Hermione teased, chuckling and rubbing her face “Fuck, Teddy’s wore me out. Thanks for cooking breakfast”

“Can’t have our fake marriage rings be less impressive than Blaise and Pansy’s” Draco agreed, nodding with a hum. His friends, both gayer than an Elton John concert with backing by Judas Priest and Bowie, had married to stop their parents nagging and so that their fortunes would be intertwined, meaning that Pansy could buy even more handbags and designer outfits.  
“Definitely not. How are they?” Hermione asked, looking over at him as she stretched and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

“They’re doing well. Pansy is ever the spender, the Zabinis are already both scared and intimidated by all of her various qualities” Draco told her with a smile.

“Too right - scares me half to death with just how much designer she wears in one outfit without it looking tacky” Hermione joked.

“That’s her main talent, Mione. So, do you wanna get your file and we can start going through it? I bet it’s colour coded, isn’t it?”

“Yep, and it has cascading index tabs with labels on” Hermione grinned “You wouldn’t believe how beautiful it is.”

“Is it that massive white plastic one?” Draco asked, purposely sounding as if the idea of it being that one brought him dread.

“The one that takes me two hands to carry? Oh, yes, Draco” She nodded, standing up and sticking her tongue out playfully as she sauntered off into her bedroom.

“Noo… we’ll be here forever!” Draco teased “Trapped in your filing cabinet for the rest of our days!”

“If you should be so lucky” Hermione smirked, coming back with the heavy binder in her arms, the high grade plastic keeping up with the intense amount of papers in it and not stretching one bit. She placed it carefully on the coffee table and sat next to him, their thighs brushing against each other as she opened the file.

“Fucking hell, Hermione. Do you ever stop?” Draco asked, looking at the sheer amount of papers in front of him.

“Why should I?”


	8. 7

Draco grinned at Hermione as she looked up at him from packing her bag to leave the following morning. In his pocket was a ring box with a beautiful, but not overly flashy, ring. “Granger, I have a question to ask” He told her, watching her smile and roll her eyes, obviously having eyed the ring box.

Hermione walked around to him, standing only inches from him. She was in one of her most horrific jumpers - really? Cable knit stripes? Honestly who bought her these? He would buy her nicer ones for Christmas. “Mhm? Carry on” She prompted, her sleeves covering her hands.

Draco got on one knee, taking out the ring box and opening it, presenting the gold ring. “Hermione Granger, would you do me the honour of being my pretend wife for this case?” He asked, trying to avoid his heart jumping out of his chest at this large, heartbreaking joke.

“I do” She replied, offering him her hand so that he could stand up and slide the gorgeous ring on her finger, a blush spreading on her cheeks. 

Draco slid the ring on her finger, hugging her “Hey, you know, you’re mega rich now, right? Wanna go buy an estate? for fun?” He teased “What about a peacock?”

“You’re a piece of work, Draco Malfoy. You’re my piece of work, though, for as long as the case allows… Hermione Malfoy doesn’t sound too bad, you know” She wasn’t lying. She’d get it legally changed, given the situation, a nice dinner, a heartfelt proposal. 

“Mhm. You ready to go? I’ve not had time to pack, been busy buying you that ring” Draco told her, stepping away and then looking at her bag “You really do rely on that thing, don’t you?”

“Convenient. If you’ve got a problem, we may need to go see a marriage counselor” Hermione teased, checking her bag “You have no idea how hard it was to fit my filing cabinet in this bag”

“Your entire filing cabinet” Draco asked, his voice deadpan “The whole thing. You couldn’t have just taken what you needed?”

“No, if I can’t sleep, I just do some paperwork. Have you even thought about how I have the time to do everything?” Hermione asked him honestly with a smile “It’s not humanly possible, and they took my time turner away a while ago”

“I don’t know how to begin to explain how unhealthy that is, fucking hell” Draco shook his head, then looked at her incredulously “...your what now, Hermione?”

“My time turner. I used it so I could take the lessons I wanted to in third year - Mcgonnagol really pulled through”

“Boundaries really don’t apply to you, do they?”

“Not if they are worth destroying. Plus it proved helpful - buckbeak and stuff”

“I knew you did something with that stupid animal” Draco grumbled, rubbing his arm psychosomatically.

“Oh please, you were an arse with him”

“Is that so, Granger?” Draco chuckled “Or was I just an arse for every year up to eighth?”

“Both, now start packing - I have another everending bag if you need it” Hermione told him, pinning him down with her brown eyes once again “Might be more efficient than apparating with a suitcase”

“Is it your life statement to be right? All the time?” Draco asked, taking her up on her offer of the bag “And how are you managing it?”

“If I told you, I’d only be right” Hermione winked at him as he walked into the hallway.

\--

Once they were in the house, Hermione had her favourite jazz album playing through it and Draco was swaying around the kitchen with her as their belongings and furniture made their way into the right place. They looked just like the married couple they were pretending to be, the married couple they had no idea that they nearly were. They had been in the house for a matter of no longer than two hours, waiting in for a knock from the world’s friendliest neighbors. Hermione made sure that they had their favourite tea and digestives waiting in the cupboards, wanting to make the best impression possible.

The two were dancing through the house, stumbling and laughing as they tried to waste the time, Draco’s eyes flitting to where their hands were joined, where their rings caught the light. Someday, Draco hoped, they’d be wearing other rings, rings that actually meant something.

A knock came from the door and they both scrambled towards it, Hermione opening it with the hand that wasn’t interlaced in Draco’s. Standing there, as planned, was Mr and Mrs Granger, in their jumpers and button up shirts.

“Hello! We noticed you were moving in, and if you need any help, let us know!” Jean Granger smiled, extending her hand and smiling as she saw the rings on their hands “Congratulations, excuse me if i’m wrong, but you look like a newly married couple. I remember when we were like that”

Draco smiled charmingly at the pair, giving Hermione a second to breathe as he replied “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Draco Malfoy, and this is my wife, Hermione. Come in, please”

Hermione stood back so that they could walk through, trying to keep her composure. She didn’t recognise how her family looked at her, fresh with unknowing and not happily aged with adoration. She recognised her father’s dimples, her mother’s strange eyebrows, but they didn’t recognise that she was wearing the jumper they bought her for her fifteenth birthday. She gripped Draco’s hand tight, biting back tears that forced their way through, bombarding the dam that had held back everything yet in her life.

Draco kissed her cheek as a chance to whisper to her “Are you okay? If you need to step out for a second, I can stall”

Ever defiant, she shook her head, blushing from the contact and walking towards the couple “Take a seat, do you want tea? We have earl grey and herbal” Hermione offered, watching the two situate themselves on the sofa.  
“Herbal for me, thank you. Our names are Wendell and Monica, by the way.” Her father smiled, then looked over at his wife “You, love?”

“Earl Grey, please, dear. Say, you and your husband are quite a picture, how’d you two meet? You can’t be any older than 25”

“I’m nineteen” You should know this, mom. You should know that my birthday is only months away, you should know that my eighteenth birthday present of grandma’s necklace is long overdue, that I made sure you would keep it. Hermione only said the first sentence, but the others that lay in silence weighed heavy on her chest like an anvil. “Draco and I went to school together, boarding school in scotland”

Draco walked into the sitting room to take the pressure off of Hermione, who was holding together incredibly well. He was concerned because of it - Hermione tended to hold things together with the same intensity that she broke down afterwards, and this only showed signs of a disaster in her wondrous mind.

“I’ll make the tea - Earl grey, love?” Hermione asked him once she had been told how many sugars her parents wanted, though she knew already - two for her father, but really he wanted two heaped and would keep it from his wife because of their profession, and none for her mother, who really disliked sweet things in general.

Draco nodded, watching her walk into the kitchen - their kitchen -, jazz music still playing softly through the house and calming him. This hadn’t been how he’d envisioned meeting Hermione’s family, in all honesty, but it was okay.

“Your wife was just telling us you went to school together, was it a classic highschool sweethearts situation? You really only think those happen in books, huh.” Mr. Granger commented with a smile, obviously endeared by the couple. 

“Well, actually, it was an enemies to friends to lovers situation” Draco told them with a fond smile “She’s known as the brightest wi-” He coughed to cover up his mistake “Excuse me. As I was saying, she’s known as the brightest pupil to ever grace the halls of our school, and as I was an envious boy at the age of eleven, I convinced myself I hated her. We managed to become friends as head pupils of the school, and things went from there" 

Hermione worried her heart would burst out of her ribcage and through the wall, revealing that she was hanging onto every word of his crushing lie. If only he felt any of it, eh? She had come into the kitchen to escape the emotion of grief, and in doing it had fell into the arms of love once again.

She walked out with the cups of tea, handing them to her parents and then to Draco, sitting next to him on the loveseat. “As you were saying, Draco?” Hermione teased playfully.

“Hermione Malfoy, ever my tormenter” Draco quipped back, her full name rolling off of his tongue effortlessly. “So, what do you two do?”

“We’ve got a shared interest in dentistry, I’m surprised we didn’t discover it earlier. We own a practice, so if you ever need an appointment, you know who to come to” Mrs Granger smiled, showing her pearly whites.

After a surprisingly long conversation about literally anything, the Grangers left and Draco closed the door, Hermione giving them a kind wave. As soon as he turned the lock, he felt Hermione burrow her head into his chest and wrap her arms around him tightly, and the house fell still for a while.

“Draco” She mumbled into his chest, muffled by his shirt fabric “They don’t know me. They really don’t know me. Not even in the eyes” Her voice was thin, wavering, threatening to snap at any time. It shattered Draco’s heart into jagged bits, to hear the girl who ranted and raved and screamed now so fragile and quiet, so timid.

“It’s okay, Hermione” He told her softly, one hand on her thick fall of hair, his other arm placed gently around her waist, his thumb rubbing small circles into her back. “It’s okay. We’ll have them back soon enough, alright, and it will all be okay. You’re doing so well”

“They didn’t know how old I am, Draco… My dad, he used to joke with me, pretend to guess, but he was always joking. I could always tell. This time it was genuine, and my mom wasn’t in on it” Hermione broke down into a sob, holding on tighter to his lithe frame “I did this… what if I can’t get them back?”  
Draco had no answer, so scared of that reality himself. He sunk to the ground with her and let her sit across his thighs as she cried into his shirt. All he could do was tell her things he sometimes didn’t believe himself, and hope she was naive enough.

She wasn’t.  
Brave little buck-toothed Hermione wasn’t.  
Neither was the damaged war hero she stood as now.


	9. 8

That night, Draco and Hermione fell asleep in their bed closely intertwined, his arms around her waist. They had attempted sleeping alone, but the sofa was too hard for Draco’s liking and Hermione was really struggling to sleep alone, plagued by nightmares and the like.

Draco always woke first, but lay in bed thinking for so long that he was still there to see Hermione wake up, quickly pretending to be asleep so that it wouldn’t be creepy or anything. Maybe it was creepier that he had pretended to be asleep, he didn’t know.

Once Hermione had left the room to go have a shower, Draco found his way into the kitchen to complete their normal routine of bacon and eggs with some mild teasing. He was wearing jogging bottoms and a quidditch jersey, odd socks on his feet.

“Up early, Granger” Draco smirked, hearing her footsteps on the tile flooring. 

“‘S Malfoy to you whilst we’re here. You cooking bacon?” Hermione asked, flicking the kettle on as she walked in “Tea?”

“Please… Earl grey” Draco hummed “Bacon with egg? Or a bacon sandwich?”

“Bacon sandwich, thanks. So, you think they’ll be at the restaurant tonight?” Hermione asked, adjusting her jumper.

“Yes, they’re extremely routine people, they’ve got a seat booked for every sunday night at eight. So, naturally, we’re going on a date.” Draco hummed “Married couple and all,”

“Sounds good. I’ve got a nice dress I haven’t worn in ages” Hermione made the tea, placing his mug next to him on the counter and then sitting on one of the counters “What do you think of them?”

“Of who, your parents? They’re nice. They seem to like me, thank god” Draco commented, sipping his tea. He had hoped that they would like him - he was likeable, and that seemed to be enough for most people. It was enough for him to sleep happy at night. But Hermione’s family were different - he needed their utmost approval, because one day he would be asking for their blessing.

“They’re different to how I remember them… probably because they don’t love me” Hermione thought aloud, her voice wavering slightly as she looked over at him.

“Yet, Hermione, yet” Draco reminded her “It’ll be okay soon enough, and they’ll know you. I was thinking we go home for a few days and clear our heads? Try and find a solution? Obviously after tonight”

“Yeah… my emotions are all over the place here”

“I’d be shocked if they weren’t” The platinum haired boy told her with a smile “You are a human, Hermione, not a robot”

\---

“Hermione? Are you ready?” Draco asked up the stairs, pulling on his coat and wrapping his scarf around his neck. He looked up the stairs only to catch a glimpse of Hermione coming downstairs, and it made him want to spontaneously combust. In a creme jumper dress that finished just above her knees, the woman looked like a million dollars that Draco didn’t have.

“Ready” She nodded, walking down the carpeted steps in small black heeled boots “So, what do you think, Draco?” The woman asked, her hair in it’s gorgeous curls, falling about her shoulders.

“I… you’re stunning, Hermione. Pity you’ve got a husband, what a lucky guy he must be” Draco told her with a smile, meaning every word.  
Hermione laughed softly, showing off her ring with a bat of her hand as she pulled on her leather jacket “He’s not too bad himself”

“Oh, I shall tell him that, he’ll be pleased” Draco told her, taking her hand and opening the door “It’s only a few streets away, do you mind walking? I don’t want the heels to kill your feet, I’ve heard that heels can do that”

“No, it’ll be fine, don’t worry, let’s go” She assured him, opening their front door and taking his hand “We’ll be late soon if we’re not careful”

“You don’t even know what time our reservation is” Draco reminded her with a smirk, closing the door behind them and beginning to walk with her down the dark street.

“I know you well enough to guess, Draco. It’ll be somewhere just after eight, meaning that they will have ordered and will be waiting for food, prime talking time” Hermione told him, a smug smile on her lips.

“Impressive.”

“I know I am”

The pair arrived at the restaurant at exactly ten minutes past eight, hand in hand as they were seated very conveniently next to the Grangers. Funny how things worked out.

“Oh! Wendell, look!” Mrs Granger grinned, lightly gesturing to the young couple.

Hermione nudged Draco with her foot, making him smile over at the older couple and wave casually. He was much better at looking casual than she was, by far. He’d been given lessons, though, so it wasn’t fair.

“Date night, eh? Well, you picked the right restaurant. This place is gorgeous, we come out every sunday night, love it here! And the price is easy on the wallet, which is wonderful” Mrs Granger chuckled, putting down her menu to engage with them fully.

“Well, I’m glad we’re in the right place” Draco nodded “Would you like to come over to ours one night? Dinner? Our treat”  
“We’d love that! How does friday night sound, we’ll bring the drinks.” Mr Granger cut in, watching the pair with a smile.

“Yes, that’d be amazing. Around six?” Hermione asked, setting her menu down and crossing one leg over the other.

“Six, sure. We’ll let you get back to your meal, then. Have a good night, you two!” Mr Granger beamed, then turned away, back to face his wife.

The date itself turned out to be one of the best nights Hermione had had in a long time - they were keeping up an act for the Grangers, but secretly Hermione wanted to do it anyway, all the time. God, her feelings really were all over the place, weren’t they.

Once they paid for their meals, they began the tipsy walk back to their home which had created meaningful and sometimes conversations every time they had done it. The only difference about this time was that Draco was carrying her bridal style as she held her heels - she’d rolled her ankle on some cobbled backstreet and what kind of a husband would he be if he let her be in pain?

“Draco” She mumbled, her head tucked into the crook of his neck “Do you really want to sleep alone tonight? If you do, I won’t suggest anything and I’ll let you get to your sleep, but if not…”

“Granger if anyone objects to having you in their bed they are lunatics - of course you can share my bed.” Draco told her softly, walking up their street.

“It’s… I’m trying to figure out how to explain it without sounding like the biggest idiot and/or harlot” Hermione confessed with a chuckle.

“It’s alright, Hermione, really. You don’t have to explain yourself”

“Thank god, wine really fucks about with my head”


	10. 9

The sun rose on the London skyline and the most oblivious couple to exist there was arising, having spent the night in eachothers arms and in Draco’s bed. Hermione found herself in his bed more than she found herself in her own, and she honestly didn’t mind. They had both forgotten to take their rings off, and Hermione nearly said it before she realised how much she actually liked the idea of having them.

For once, Hermione was the first to rise first, untangling herself from Draco’s long pale arms and walking through the hallway towards the bathroom. If she was about to do some amazing super-brain planning, she needed a clean mind.

After scrubbing her skin and changing into an old Gryffindor alumni t-shirt with some pyjama shorts underneath, she made her way into her bedroom to retrieve the mass amounts of files she had dumped there when they got back last night.

She set up in the living room with her various pencil cases and files spread out on the coffee table, looking like the true definition of organised chaos. Hermione knew that Harry was coming over for dinner, so she was careful to leave the kitchen as alone as possible - he had offered to cook for her and Draco, and they were quick to agree. Harry was an amazing cook, which explained the potions mastery. Well, that, and the dodgy book he had in sixth year.

“How long you been up, Hermione? Please tell me it’s not like.. Three hours or something of the sort? You can’t replace sleep with study” Draco asked, as he shuffled his way into the living room and situated himself next to her “Any ideas?”

“Think we may just have to attempt the 75% chance of it working and take the loss as it occurs. Every plan I’ve ever made when it comes to things like this has gone to shit and I’ve ended up riding a dragon once, so I don’t think planning too heavily is the best idea, in all honesty,” Hermione told him, pursing her lips as she perused through her own handwriting. “I’ve been down here five minutes, don’t worry. You worry a lot”

“Of course I’m worried about you, you refuse to worry about yourself” Draco replied sarcastically “And the only reason you fail is because your friends couldn’t follow a plan to save their lives - literally”

“Oi, I do worry about myself, just when it’s appropriate and not a total waste of time” Hermione corrected, running a hand through her hair “You have a point with that… Oh! Harry’s coming around at six.” 

“It’s always appropriate to worry about yourself, Granger. For the brightest person I’ve ever met, you are sometimes so dense” Draco told her honestly, flicking through her pages with care “We can do a quick clean of the apartment later… do you know if he plans to stay the night?”

“No, he’s going to go back to his apartment. I asked him” Hermione confirmed, then scoffed “Oh please. Out of all of my friends, you’re calling me dense?”

“Tallest dwarf is still a dwarf, Hermione” Draco quipped, chuckling.

“Good one” Hermione smiled softly “Maybe if you make more ones like that, you’ll be able to rebuild your ego”

“Damn, Granger! Scolding!” Draco touched her arm, pretending to burn his finger tip on it. Hermione habit of one-upping him at all times, and he knew when to admit defeat for the purpose of productiveness.

____

There was a knock at the door promptly at six, and Hermione rushed to open it, beaming as she was greeted by Harry and his strange leather jacket that was some strange shade of maroon. She embraced him tightly and then stood back, leading him in. 

“It’s been too long, Harry” Hermione told him with a smile as she tucked her hair behind her ear subconsciously, confused as she watched him gasp excitedly.

“Hermione Jean Godiva Madonna Elizabeth Granger” Harry whispered, taking her hand “Why is there an extremely expensive engagement ring on your finger? I knew you were undercover for the - you’ve become attached, haven’t you? Awh” He teased, dropping her hand and looking over at Draco, who had luckily heard none of it “Heya.”  
“Literally half of what you called me is incorrect, and you know it.” Hermione smirked, “And I’ll do as I please, thank you very much”

“More like who, in this case,” Harry muttered, laughing.

Draco raised an eyebrow, confused by the actions of Hermione and Harry - he knew Hermione well enough to see it as normal behaviour, but was it really like a chain reaction? Did this mean that Hermione would be particularly on form with the quips that night? Was Harry actually funny? Gods, too many questions.

“Drink, Potter? I can only imagine what you’d be like drunk” Draco teased, walking over to the glass cupboard. Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join em, right?

“Oh, I become amazing when drunk, I’d even be able to turn Parkinson” Harry bit back, nodding “Red, thanks”

“Your burlesque dancing, as much as a spectacle as it is, does not need to happen in our flat” Hermione corrected “I wish I could say I believe you haven’t brought your feather boa”

“Feather boa?” Draco smirked, pouring him the wine “Must be good to turn Pansy, the girl’s the gayest thing around”

“There is no feather boa. Feather boas are for cheap whores. I’m an exotic dancer” Harry laughed, taking the glass and sipping.

“You are a professor at Hogwarts, you fucknut.” Hermione corrected “And I’m very sure that if McGonagall were here, she’d ban alcohol from Hogwarts entirely”

“I would ignore that rule as much as everyone else does. You are the only one who has ever given a shit about rules, ‘mione” Harry replied, getting his ingredients about his bag.

“Oh, shut up. I’ll have you know I’ve broken plenty of rules”

“What, did you write middle aligning and not left aligning on one of your files? Oh, the horror, what if you did it right aligning?” Draco joined in with a smug smirk.

“Draco, you know that right aligning documents do my absolute nut in” Hermione groaned, tying her hair up “That fucking case”

“How was Australia, by the way? Must’ve been hard, pretending to be a couple” Harry hummed as he began to cook, smug expression evident from his tone.

“Harry James Potter” Hermione cursed under her breath, then looked across at Draco, who was blushing furiously. Cute.

“Yes, dear Hermione?” Harry answered, looking over his shoulder at them and holding in a laugh.

“Do you ever stop?” She groaned like a tired mother who had six children all on a sugar high.

“What reason do I have to?”

“Oh, I can really see the sibling resemblance now” Draco cursed under his breath “Is Weasley the only one with any control?”

“Yes.” They both answered, synchronised and so alike each other that Draco wondered, not for the first time, if he had got himself into quicksand thinking it was water.

“Talking about Ron, how is he?” Hermione asked, “Still vehemently against anything I’ve chosen to do since last year?”

“He’s coming around… Hermione, it is Ron, you explained his emotional depth best yourself”

“We were sixteen, it should have developed since then, Harry.”

“Yet here we are - Hermione he can’t be that bad if you’ve decided he’s worth caring about, you rarely care about yourself,” Draco told her, not wanting Hermione’s stubbornness to get the better of her in a situation that Draco knew benefited her. He personally could never get on with Ron, but Hermione needed her friends, and Draco found himself caring about her more than he knew.


	11. 10

The club that they were in was dark, the dancefloor lit with raving lights and disco balls reflecting off every surface. Hermione had been the least eager to dance, but now she was there, living in the purest way with the sinfullest of intentions as her black mini skirt clung to her thighs. She was dancing with Pansy, who had sussed the situation between her and Draco and the wedding ring on her finger, and her shirt was riding up her freckled back. She could feel Draco’s eyes burning her way into her back, and it only made her more enthusiastic to dance. Well, maybe seven drink Hermione was an exhibitionist. Maybe sober Hermione was too, given the right situation and the right mop of blonde hair.

“C’mon Granger, back to our husbands” Pansy teased, wrapping a long arm around her waist and walking her towards their table, taking her cocktail glass in her delicate hand and letting Hermione sit down next to Draco. She sent a knowing look over at Blaise who smirked back with a wink.

Draco looked over at Hermione with a smile, sipping his drink - he had been watching her with intensity, the way she danced still slightly dorky and so her that it made him want to scream, genuinely scream. She obviously didn’t feel the same way, so he would keep his romantic feelings in the dark for now, darker than this club for sure.

Hermione took a sip of her cocktail, engagement ring glistening in the light. Draco was proud of the purchase, it really was one of the shiniest rings in existence. Anyone looking in their general direction could tell that Hermione was off the market, and that made Draco feel a little safer when she was dancing like that, with so many people watching her. She made Pansy look conservative.

“So, Granger. Where’d you learn to dance like that? Everyone in this club is eyeing you up - if it wasn’t for that ring on your finger and your raging lesbian chaperone, you’d be being torn apart” Blaise commented, chuckling “In the best way, of course. Quite an enjoyable way, actually. I’ve heard your mate Potter is quite fond of it”

“Really? He hadn’t mentioned. Though I would be worried if he shared all of the details of his life, Harry has decided that any time may be the middle, and therefore there is no point in a midlife crisis when you can just have one ongoing one that includes strange fashion choices” Hermione told them, finishing her cocktail “He is literally the biggest disaster I have ever met”

“You live with Draco, sweetheart” Pansy reminded her, placing a hand on her forearm and giggling. The slytherin princess had consumed half as much alcohol as Hermione and was twice as drunk. She liked being a lightweight, it meant it cost less to get absolutely pissed.

“Mhm, but Draco usually cooks breakfast, and I have a feeling I am going to need a really greasy breakfast to get up before three in the afternoon. So I will say nothing of it” Hermione declared, grinning toothily over at the platinum haired chef she had come to adore and fantasise about when she slept.

“They don’t call you the smartest witch ever for nothing, huh?” Draco laughed, wrapping an arm around her in a strangely tactile motion.

“Nope. I’m just that brilliant” Hermione shrugged “We should do some shots. I’m not drunk enough, Pansy, this is a major issue”

Pansy grinned, already standing up “Tell me why we didn’t become friends earlier? Draco and Blaise are usually moody old men by now, complaining that they want to go home and do their knitting” She joked, holding out her arms “C’mon Granger. Jagerbombs for us, my lovely”

Hermione let out a cheer and held out her arms back, letting Pansy help her up and then looking back at Draco.

“No, no. One of us has to be sober enough to apparate and make sure you end up in bed and not on the floor or something else strange you’d do. Go have fun” He waved them away with a shake of his head. Seeing his disaster of a flatmate actually enjoy her was worth all the teasing he’d receive from Blaise as soon as they left.

“Man, you’ve managed to put a ring on her finger, but you’ve not even admitted you like each other? What the fuck is that about? Are you scared of Gr-No actually, that’s fair enough, but you know what I mean” Blaise asked him, leaning back in their booth seat.

“It’s complicated… She’s doing everything she can to get her parents back, and the marriage was part of our undercover work.” Draco explained “It wasn’t like ‘hey granger do you want to marry me, but no homo’” 

“Mate. That’s what you’ve just explained to me. That’s what it was. ‘Let’s act like a married couple and then not take the rings off, but still act like we have no idea that we’re in love’” The dark-skinned slytherin hummed “Am I not right? Am I not?”

“Blaise, when I think she genuinely likes me back, I’ll do something, alright? I’m not going to ruin what we have now, and I’m quite content” He told him, finishing his drink and watching the two girls “Hey, do you think he’s getting close to them? The blonde on the left”

“Definitely. The only reason I married Pansy was to keep off the unknowing straights and to harass them a little. Come on, let’s go save our drunken damsels”

Draco and Blaise straightened out their posture, demanding respect as they walked, people avoiding their line of action as this blonde airhead of a boy sidled up to Hermione in particular. Just as a hand went to place itself on Hermione’s shoulder, Draco surged forward but was then held back by Blaise, who was smirking.

“Draco, wait. Watch” Blaise smirked as Hermione’s clench connected with the blonde boy’s jaw and made an impressive crack “He’s been Draco-ed”

“We are not calling it that” Draco told him shortly as he got in between the two, facing the blonde off.

“Draco, let me have another go at that. I didn’t hear enough things breaking” Hermione roared aggresively. Ah, so 10-shot-Hermione was easily aggravated. Worth noting. “See if he wants to talk like that to his friends about me then? I’m not a fucking trophy, and I’m certainly not your fucking conquest”

“Mione, let’s go home. He’s not worth the scandal” Draco told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders gently “C’mon”

\-----  
It was thursday and they were back in Australia, fully prepared for the dinner. Hermione had even planned her outfit down to her earrings, and the spell was running through her mind like nothing else even mattered, not even sleep. Draco had managed to coax her to sleep a few hours each night, but she found herself turning to pepper up potions just to function. 

“Mione” Draco called, clearing the white noise clouding her head as she sat in their living room, a cup of tea now cold in her hands “Are you okay?” He asked, gently taking the tea out of her hands and setting it on the table.

She nodded, biting her lip as she came to the thundering realisation of the fact that she was lost today, and so any work would be pointless because it would be one sentence to her normal three pages, and she would have to spend hours correcting it. “I’m fine, Draco. Just a bit… meh, you know?”

“I get it” He nodded, setting his own tea down and wrapping his arms around her gently - not tight enough to engulf her like most of their crushing hugs, but just enough so that she’d know he was there, and he was real.

That day was useless, completely and utterly, and Draco had no idea what to do. His workaholic busy bee had mush for brains. Sad mush. He had even go so far as to send a sneaky letter to Harry, who’d told him that it was just one of her episodes and that she would be fine in a day or two. 

It was a miracle that Harry was right, because she woke up on Friday morning with the light behind her eyes that Draco had missed so intensely whilst it was gone.

They spent the day cleaning, making sure that there was nothing magical out at all in the house, just in case they were as nosy as Hermione assumed they may be. They were.

Once the Grangers were in the house, it was ready to go. Draco had offered to show them his latest collected piece of art, and Hermione was waiting there to draw her wand.

“Close your eyes” Draco smiled, and thank god they did. Hermione stood next to him and executed the spell in the same time as it would take for them to blink, then quickly slid her wand back into the side of her jeans.

As soon as they opened their eyes, they surged towards Hermione, enveloping her in arms and gentle hands. She caught a glimpse of their eyes, and burst into tears. The light of love was back, and Hermione had never been more grateful to see it. 

Finally reunited, the small family stood in a hug for a few seconds, and then her father and mother turned on Draco. Hermione bit her lip, looking at him, waiting for their reaction to him, to the rings.

“Welcome to the family, Draco” Mrs Granger smiled, and Hermione was overly pleased to see that her father was smiling too.

“Would you like to sit in the living room? I think we have a bit to discuss, it’s been a while” Hermione offered, wiping tears from her eyes and walking into the kitchen “Wonder when we’ll get the ministry letter for use of magic on muggles, huh?” She joked, looking over at Draco.

“I’m allowed, ‘mione, curse breakers can-”

“I’m not” Hermione grinned and then shrugged, sitting down on the sofa “They’ll have to catch me to do anything, won’t they? Anyway, anyway. Mum, dad. You probably have a few questions, right?”

“Yes. Most importantly, did we miss the wedding? I see engagement rings but not wedding rings” Mrs Granger cut in, looking at the pair’s hands.

“Ah. The whole marriage thing was an undercover aspect of the case, we’re not engaged. Might decide to keep the rings, they’ve proved useful, and everyone except Draco’s mother knows the situation” Hermione answered carefully, trying not to make her true intentions clear. Stay married until it felt more like a truth.

Mr and Mrs Granger smiled in that same odd way that Andromeda had, and Hermione felt left out of one massive joke. Why was everyone doing that? Even Pansy and Blaise had… 

“So, if you’re not engaged, you still have to ask for my blessing, kid” Mr Granger winked, and Hermione wanted to sink into a hole. She wished everyone could stop insinuating things that she was wishing for, making them like a hologram in her mind - nearly tangible, but just not there. Never for her.


	12. 11

They had just finished moving the Grangers back home, and Hermione was lingering in the hallway, beaming. Everything was restored, her school photos and baby photos were back in their brass frames. Draco walked into the hallway to check on her, having had a cup of tea and a chat with the couple in her absence. He looked over at her with slight confusion and then realisation washed over his face. Her face wasn’t in the pictures before, and now it was.

“You always had your mop of hair, huh? You really were destined for Gryffindor with hair like that” Draco joked gently, wrapping an arm around her “Lioness and a half”

“Oi” Hermione laughed softly, resting her head on his shoulder “You can talk, all that bloody hair gel in, you looked more like a snake than I did a lion. I was surprised that your hair didn’t slide off your head when I punched you”

“You’ve got a good swing on you, I’m surprised myself. Should we get going? They’re settled, and you look like you’re emotionally worn out” Draco offered, running a hand through his platinum hair.

Hermione nodded, taking her coat off of the hook and sliding it on her arms, walking into the kitchen where her parents were bickering as they always had done. “Mum, Dad, we’re gonna get off now, but you have our address, right? And we’ll come over every now and then”

“Alright sweetheart, we’ll see you soon” Hermione’s father smiled, opening his arms out to hug her and peck her cheek “You two look after eachother, alright? I’m happy you’ve picked a good one, sweetheart”

The dark haired girl shook her head, blushing “Thanks, dad. Thanks”

Once the whole ordeal of goodbyes was over, and so was the apparition, Hermione and Draco settled back into their flat, putting Blue Planet on the TV and throwing on ugly jumpers and a blanket over their entangled legs. The two were close to sleep, eyes just closing shut as a large knock echoed on the apartment door jolting them awake just before the door unlocked itself. 

PTSD kicked in and suddenly Hermione had jumped over the sofa and drew her wand, still half asleep. She felt an arm around her and it drew her back into herself, now face to face with… Lucius Malfoy? Great first impression on your husband’s dad, that is. 

“Sorry. Wasn’t expecting anyone to burst through the front door” Hermione smiled, tucking her wand back into her pocket and looking over at Draco, who was as equally as shocked to see the man.

“It is fine. I would be shocked if you hadn’t tried to defend yourself, though the gymnastic flair was spectacular, I must admit” Lucius smiled, which set Hermione off edge completely - she had advocated for his release, yes, but being faced with him? Something else. 

“Father… Mother said that they were allowing letters, what’s happened?” Draco asked, watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye, but focusing on his father mostly.

“They have released me on what the muggles call ‘parole’” Lucius looked over at Hermione for a quick second to check he had said it right, and then over at Draco “Your mother had told me that you would have preferred to be contacted, seeing as you’ve been working a case in Australia, I hear.”

“You came over anyway, of course” Draco nodded, leaning against the couch “Is there any emergency?” He asked, still anchoring an arm around Hermione’s waist to keep himself from keeling over from shock.

“No, no, I just thought I’d come over and have a look at how my son is living. We shall talk soon, but I have a feeling your mother will have a fit when she realises I’ve done the opposite of what she told me to do. Goodbye Draco, Hermione” Lucius smirked, and just like that he was gone, closing the flat door behind him.

Draco looked over at her once he was gone, running a hand through his hair and pacing the hall “Fuck. Hermione. Fuck. I didn’t need new difficulty. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck” He swore, gripping his hair “Why the fuck is he out? What the fuck does he think of the apartment? Of my job? Of u-” 

“Draco” Hermione stopped him promptly, holding his forearms gently “Sit down. Please. Relax. Nothing he can do will ever change your job, or this apartment, or the fact that we’re living together, unless you let it” She took her hands in his, sitting on the clear space of the coffee table in front of him so that she could look at him in the eyes “Breathe”

“Hermione. You don’t know my father” Draco told her, eyes like a scared child in the night.

“You’re right. I don’t know your father, Draco, but I know you.” She assured him, her fingers brushing the gold band on his finger “And I know that you will always find a way to survive, no matter the circumstance. Just this time, you have a say, and you have me”

“Hermione, you don’t… you don’t know what I’m like when things are like this. My dad does what he wants…”

“And I do what I want, Draco, but you don’t find me cripplingly scary, do you?” Hermione asked with a smile “Look, your father has never been my favourite man, but he can’t be that bad, huh?”

“I do find you cripplingly scary, Hermione, how could I not?” Draco laughed softly “I do know what you’re saying, though… Are you okay with him being here? This is your place too”

“Of course I am, why wouldn’t I be okay with him here? A bit of notice would be appreciated, though” Hermione hummed, standing up and sitting back down next to him “Want to continue watching Blue Planet? Might take that pout off of your face. You need a nap - I do too, in all honesty”

“How could I deny you that, then, Granger?” Draco smirked, settling into a comfier position so that Hermione could work her way next to him - it was how they fell asleep, and Draco didn’t think he could sleep any other way.

“I’m just glad you can’t. Have you got plans for Christmas?” She asked softly, tugging at the blanket so that it covered them.

“No, although I expect my parents will have yule ball now they’re back together, which I’ll be forced to go to.” Draco groaned, closing his eyes. “Would you want to come with me? You do like dancing”

“I’d love to.”

\----  
The apartment fell silent and calm, the pair asleep on the sofa for what was actually an hour or two but felt like a measly ten minutes. There was a disturbance in the air as there was another knock on the door, and Draco groaned as he woke up, swinging his legs over the top of the low rise sofa and leaving Hermione to sleep, walking towards the door. He opened it and wanted to groan again and slam it in his face, but remembered that he was important to Hermione and there was tension anyway.

“Granger? Weasley’s here!” Draco called, crossing his arms against his chest and letting him in, closing the door.

Ron walked through, the lanky wonder that he was, nearly knocking over a file or two as he passed the hall.

Hermione quickly got up and ran a hand through her hair, hands on her hips as she looked at Ron “Mhm? Well?”

“Hermione, I’m sorry. Honestly. I’m not good at words and I really hope you’re not expecting anything fancy because I’m not” Ron told her, a lost look in his eyes “But, I’m sorry. And I’ve missed you.”

Draco had really expected a bit more of a tear jerking reunion, in all honesty. A bit more than ‘I’m sorry lol’, but it seemed enough for Hermione as she hugged him and then stepped back with a smirk.

“I hope your mum’s still not expecting a christmas card”


	13. 12

Hermione knocked on the door, Draco standing alongside her with the bottle of wine in his hands. They were both in dress shirts and jumpers, though Hermione was in a beautiful maroon skater skirt and Draco was in simple dress trousers. Draco was having to constantly remove his eyes from her, both her arse and her eyes - they were twinkling in the porch light of the Grangers’ house and he was falling even further in love with her. All that bollocks about twinkling eyes had always been, well, bollocks to him. He’d never thought that Pansy’s eyes twinkled, nor Astoria’s, nor any he had met. But hers? They made the sun look dim and minimal in comparison, because she shined brighter than anything imagined or hypothesised. Lightning struck him less.

The door swung open and Draco was surprised to be embraced in a hug by Mr. Granger as Hermione was hugged by her mother. He let out a small silent gasp and hugged him back with a smile and then heard the dulcet tones of Harry Potter, singing along to that sinatra bloke that Hermione adored.

“Your friends got here a little early, but they’re lovely! I’m surprised they don’t have partners themselves” Mrs Granger gushed, ushering them inside “Shoes and coats on the left there”

Once their shoes were off and their scarves were from around their necks, Hermione walked into the living room with Draco, greeted by a familiar greeting that could only be called a pile-on from Harry and Ron. Draco made sure to find somewhere to put the wine whilst the lions did their boisterous greeting call.

He was quick to help Mrs Granger with the cooking, the woman smiling and making sweet little comments as he did so. He was definitely in their good books, definitely. He had just finished peeling the potatoes when Hermione popped her head around the door and grinned, making him sure that he had heart eyes whenever he saw her. 

“Draco? The boys are dancing and I need my dancing partner to prove that we’re better overall” Hermione explained, moving to lean against the doorway “Cmon! It’s Frank Sinatra, we practically have it choreographed”

Mrs Granger gave him a nudge and nodded, smiling “Go on, just keep your hands in the right place” She winked and took over with the potatoes. 

“I’m all yours, then, Granger” He told her with a smooth bow and then felt his grin widen as she took his hand and dragged him into the living room where Harry and Ron were attempting something crossed in between ballroom and the flamenco, where Ron was the lead and it was all going horrifically.

They began to dance, traipsing and twirling all around the room, building up the complexity of the moves until they were both worn out and too wrapped up in dancing to notice that Harry had sneakily took a few magical photos and that Mrs Granger had taken a sneaky picture with her camera. Ron didn’t look overly upset, and that was the best part. He looked slightly happy for her, which was miles from where they had been only days ago.

“Tea’s ready! You lot must be knackered” Mrs Granger hollered through the house as her husband worked on plating the table. Ron and Hermione were quick to rush and help, but Draco was held back by Harry, who had something to say.

“Draco, thanks. She’s been in a dark place, and… yeah. I’m trying to say that you make her really happy, and I’m really thankful” Harry stumbled over his heartfelt words and then started walking with him to the dining room “Her ring is gorgeous, though I expected green” He teased.

“Oh, the real malfoy heirloom is green, green and silver. Real emeralds, we don’t stinge” Draco smirked back, winking “You could have it, but I’m afraid I don’t want to marry you”

“Really? I’m a catch” Harry gasped, a hand on his chest.

“And I’ve decided to miss” Draco winked, smirking as he walked past Harry, who was pretending to have heart failure.

“I’m not even going to ask” Ron sighed, making them laugh as they sat down.

\----

“Granger, do we have to go to Harry’s party?” Draco asked jovially, looking over at Hermione, who was in that magnific cream knit dress that she wore to their first official date “Wow… you look absolutely gorgeous, Hermione” He was taken aback, she managed to get prettier each time he saw her.

“Yes, we have to go, because Harry is my best friend and he also is very fond of you, you know” She told him with a smile, pulling on her maroon coat and zipping up her long black velvet boots that Draco swore would be the death of him.

“Oh, fine… who’s going to be there?” Draco asked, pulling on his own coat and walking towards the door “Ready to go?”

“Oh, pretty much everyone from our year that he liked and trusts around his liquor cabinet - you know Luna? She’s going to be there with Neville.” Hermione took his arm “Ready if you are”

“Try not to splice me” Draco teased, making her laugh as they apparated straight into Harry’s hallway.

The apartment screamed Gryffindor, and would probably be quite cosy if it wasn’t teeming with people and laughter. As soon as they were noticed, Harry hugged them both and took their hands, leading them towards the mini bar that had been constructed for the night.

“Which one of you is apparating tonight? You’re welcome to stay in the spare room, no-one else is” Harry asked, pouring them both a drink and winking at them before sliding to them and walking over to some other partygoers.

The party progressed and Hermione was raving on the dancefloor with Luna and Ginny, having the time of her life. She had never been a party animal, but dancing? She loved that so much that she would spend all her life doing it if she could. Hermione noticed Draco brooding in the doorway and wormed her way out of the rave.

As she reached the doorframe she felt something strange wash over her and looked at Draco for reassurance, but he looked just as panicked as her.

Oh, no.

“Looks like Hermione and Draco are stuck in the magic mistletoe!” Luna gasped, giddy with excitement.


	14. 13

Hermione glared over at Harry and Ron, who were having a right laugh - she wanted to murder them both. “Harry James Potter, if you don’t give me the counter spell within ten seconds I’ll personally end you, and you know that I always accomplish with flying colours” She seethed - she really wanted to kiss him, wanted his hands on her waist, his lips on hers, but without the world watching. Without Draco having to be forced magically.

“Sorry, Mione! I don’t read instructions, unfortunately” Harry grinned, taking another sip of his drink “Sure you two will figure it out, though? Or maybe you should just get over it and kiss each other? You’re blocking off the bathroom, and if anyone pisses in my plants I will never forgive them”

She looked back at Draco, who was leaning on the wall, was also smirking. “Would it be so bad to kiss me, Granger?” He was teasing her, obviously, keeping up his facade to all the partygoers. Hermione wanted to one up him, taunt him back like she would in the apartment when they were curled up on the sofa, but the issue was that they weren’t, and everyone was watching.

“Draco, I have a feeling you have the ability to pick up on hints to realise my answer, but also you know that if I were to just kiss you, Harry would have won and that’s not a thing we can have” Hermione told him with a smile, watching him turn beetroot. Ah, if only she could read him like he could so openly read her.

The young woman set about finding the counter curse and had it within minutes, and the crowd fizzled back into their rave and drink. Draco gently took her arm and lead her into a hidden part of the hallway to talk.

“You are the most cryptic woman I have ever met, Hermione Granger, and yet the most blunt” Draco told her honestly, wrapping an arm around her “Just don’t forget, tomorrow night we’re at my parents’ for dinner, so getting extremely hungover isn’t the best idea”

“I know, don’t worry. It’ll all be fine, c’mon. What time is it? We can go home and relax if you want? This dress is chilling, doesn’t cover much in all honesty. You seem to think it looks good, though” She chuckled, walking with him back into the party.

“Have my jacket, you’ll freeze, then who will I take to the ball?” Draco joked, sliding his jacket over her shoulders.

“Pansy? Or you could take Blaise, both would cause an equal stir” Hermione told him with a smirk, sliding her arms into the jacket, the whole thing oversized on her. “So, are we going home?”

“We are. We could fit a bit of Blue Planet in before sleep,” He grinned at her “Oh no, you’ve made me old… Pansy and Blaise would be pissing themselves at me for this”

“But they don’t live with you, do they? And I don’t know about Blaise, but Pansy wouldn’t sleep with you” Hermione told him with a smirk “So, let’s find the arse of the year and say goodbye to him”

“I do actually have the arse of the year, thank you very much - not that you care” Harry feigned sadness, then wrapped his arms around her “You better have kissed, and I wish you both a good christmas. Take it you’re not going to the weasleys?”

“No, I’ll be spending it with my parents with any luck” Hermione said, hugging him back and then letting him hug Draco.

“Well, I’d love to see you sometime, Mione. You two have a good christmas, and I hope you stumble on more mistletoe”

\------

“So, Draco, is it just your usual dress code? Is it full on rich dress code? What should I wear?” Hermione called through to him from her bedroom. She heard him chuckle and scoffed “Oi, Draco Malfoy you get in here, now!”

“Just one of your normal outfits will be great, Hermione - what about that red skirt you’ve got?” Draco asked, sitting on her bed and looking at her wardrobe “Aaand… what shirts have you got, Minister of stationery?”

“Well, lord of snide comments, I shall show you. What about this one? Soft white with small green details on the collar and sleeves?” She asked, pulling it out of her wardrobe and showing it him.

“Yeah, that looks great. If no-one else does, I appreciate the slytherin details” Draco chuckled “You’ve converted”

“I am wearing a wholly red skirt and my gold earrings, I’m still very much the lion you love” She called from the little en-suite she never used.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Hermione. Now, c’mon, let’s see” He told her, smiling fondly.

Hermione stepped out of the the bathroom and looked at him, looking stunning as ever to him, the velvet skirt catching the light slightly as she did a spin “So? Do I look like a princess?” She joked

“Yeah, you do. Let’s get off then, if we get there early it’s better”

“Don’t worry, alright? It’s alright” She assured him, sliding on her coat and buttoning it up. 

“Whatever you say, princess”

They apparated to the Manor’s front door and knocked, and Draco was surprised that his mother answered it - it would normally be answered by a house elf or a servant.

Narcissa was happy to see them, hugging them both and welcoming them in, closing the door shut behind them. She wasn’t her usual shaky self that Draco had watched her wither and crumble into the past years, but full of vibrancy, a younger version of herself he had never met as a teenager nor a child. The war, the separation of one sister and the decline of madness that the other experienced until her untimely death.

The couple walked down the looming hallway, lit by candles. As homey as they’d made it seem, as much as Narcissa had put so much love into those gothic halls since Lucius came back, Hermione still gripped Draco’s hand with a force that started to hurt. Portraits had been restored and now were so lifelike that the faces of her tormentors were preparing to scream at her now.  
Hermione stared straight ahead, not daring to look Bellatrix Lestrange in the eye - why had she gotten the biggest portrait, she could never understand. Well, she could, but she didn’t want to.

“You alright? They’re not going to say anything, and if they do, it’ll be sorted before you can even organise your folders. I promise” He told her with a whisper, giving her hand a squeeze.

“I know, I’m okay. Don’t worry” She whispered back, still following Narcissa into the lounge.

Once they were in the lounge, Hermione began to realise how stiflingly Slytherin the room was. She was sitting on a dark green loveseat with Draco, her feet on a green velvet rug - it was insane. Then again, Harry’s was almost the same in an oddly opposite way. 

“So, you two are quite the item, I hear? Well, I did expect it slightly. Always ‘Potter this’, or ‘Granger that’, or ‘Granger is’. Insane, how much he was obsessed” Lucius told her, a comedic airiness to his voice that would suggest he had no idea that his son was going a beetroot red shade of alarming intensity.

Hermione laughed “Can’t say either of us were much different, in all honesty. Are you okay, Draco?”

“Just fine” He told her with an exaggerated gritted smile, then looked over at his father “So wonderful to have you back and to return to take the piss out of me to the one woman who I let do it already”

“It’s great to take the piss out of you once again, my son.” Lucius smirked and leant back slightly in his armchair “So, I assume your mother has already told you about the ball? It’s going to be quite an ordeal, your mother hasn’t had the option to organise an event in quite some time, and she feels the need to come back with a bang. Her words, not mine”

“No, she hasn’t said anything, but I had thought you’d be holding one. What date?” He asked, one hand subtly around Hermione’s waist to try and keep her calm and safe, though she seemed okay.

“Fourteenth - we were going to do the thirteenth, but omens and all, we decided against it. The dress code is as always, just formal and festive”  
“Something more than a christmas jumper, then” Hermione joked under her breath, which made Draco laugh, but only because he imagined them both dancing in such mundane outfits whilst everyone else was in their gorgeous suits and dresses.


	15. 14

“Ginny! Just help me into this fucking thing, please! Draco’s going to be home soon, and seeing me stuck halfway into a ball gown is not attractive” Hermione ranted, the ball gown stuck at her hips “Unlace it! Do something!”

The flame haired woman unlaced the bodice of the dress with a hum, hiking the dress to fit over her hips “Fucking hell, Hermione, you’re too bombshell for this dress” She joked with a laugh, lacing it up and then successfully hiding the laces once the dress was fully done up “Nah, you’ve just got a massive arse”

“Thanks, Gin. Is it done yet?” Hermione groaned, bracing her hands on the wall as Ginny tightened and adjusted. What happened next made her stomach drop through the floor. The doorbell rung.

“I’ll get it, stay there cinderella” Her friend told her before dashing through the hallway to get the door, expecting it to be the postman or something of the sort.

She was surprised to open the door to Pansy and Blaise, who she had actually met in gay bars. It was strange to see them out of hot pants and the like, in all honesty. Ginny welcomed them with open arms, Pansy giving her a cheeky grope as she received her hug.

“Come on, I expect you’re here to help the damsel? She’s just got into her dress.” Ginny lead them, very happy with her own outfit choice, not having known that they were coming over. She wasn’t properly interested in Pansy, but she liked cat and mouse just like everyone else in the world.

Once Hermione was actually ready, she looked positively stunning. It was getting late, and just as Pansy was setting her makeup, Draco walked though.  
“Hermione? You in?” Draco called, not seeing her on the sofa or in the kitchen. He had his robes and suit in his wardrobe waiting, but he knew that Hermione got frantic sometimes when it came to these things and hoped she hadn’t bolted.

“Yeah, in here! Ginny, Pansy, and Blaise are here!” Hermione called out, hands resting on the satin of her red dress. The dress itself had gold accents and a deep ruby red neckline, and made her look like a queen.

“Am I alright to come in?” Draco asked, though raised an eyebrow at the idea that Hermione would feel comfortable being indecent around his friends.

“Yeah! Come in! Your wife looks hot as shit! Good luck matching with this, Malfoy” Ginny hollered with a laugh, getting a swat from Hermione and a high five with Pansy.

Draco chuckled and walked in, seeing Hermione sitting at her dresser in the most sinful of dresses that you could pull off at your inlaws. He nearly physically gasped, then he looked at her face once more. To anyone else, this was simply Hermione in a ball gown, nothing spectacular about it. But to him? She was a princess.

“You look great, Hermione, as always” He told her with a smile that he couldn’t really keep off his face if he had tried “I’ll get ready, you three help yourselves to anything in the kitchen, but Pansy be careful on the alcohol. If you’re going to see my parents, it won’t be drunk”

“Whatever, mum” Pansy groaned sarcastically and then waved him off “Go on, go get pretty! We’re going to go in a minute to get prettier” She told him cheerily, turning back to Hermione to make final adjusts on the girl’s face.

\---

Pansy, Blaise and Ginny left eventually, and it was just Hermione and Draco left. She stood in her mirror, having slid on her golden high heels and completed the picture. The anticipation was slowly killing her, so she slid her wand into the nifty invisible wand pocket the dress had and walked through the hallway. 

“Draco?” She called through the door and gave it a gentle knock “Are you ready to go?” 

“Yeah, come in” He muttered, watching her with what he was hoping wasn’t heart eyes. Draco himself was in a simple dark green and white suit - it was a muggle inspired one, though had alterations to accommodate wands and dancing and… wands.

Hermione was taken aback, in all honesty. Draco Malfoy in a suit, oh holy mother mary, she’d have to see this more often. 

“You look great” She told him honestly, sitting down on his bed and crossing her legs at the knee “Did you buy it from a muggle store? It’s got a muggle fashion to it, it really suits you”

“It was altered to fit and have an invisible wand pocket, but apart from that, it’s all muggle. Thought you’d appreciate it” Draco chuckled, finishing with his hair and turning to face her “You going to be able to dance in that thing?”

“Of course. Danced with Ginny in the shop to make sure. Should we go?” She asked, nerves filling her head - half the people there probably had the opportunity to give her flashbacks galore. Tonight,she was going to dance with Draco Malfoy. Hopefully there would be some mistletoe in private.

“Alright, if you insist, princess. Let’s get going” Draco held out his hand to her, helping her stand. 

The lioness laughed and took both his hands, standing for a few seconds before she felt the familiar pull. Suddenly they were out in the cold of the malfoy manor, lit with fairy lights. There was a doorman waiting with a list whom neither of them recognised.

Draco held her hand as they walked towards the door, the doorman looking at them expectantly. 

“Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, both on the guest list” He told him formally, feeling Hermione give his hand a little squeeze as they were let in, walking through to join the party.

Word must have spread that the couple were attending, because the room hushed and a few sneaky photos were taken. Draco was full of pride as they walked in, chin tilted upwards as was Hermione’s as they made their way though. Narcissa walked towards them, beaming as she saw how beautifully her future daughter in law was twinkling in the light and how happy her son looked. It had been a while since she’d seen such happiness in anyone’s eyes, such adoration for the girl who he had managed to seduce.

People settled and the band began playing louder, letting the pair settle. After Narcissa returned to being the socialite she was so good at being, Draco took his opportunity to bow slightly and offer out his hand. Hermione blushed slightly, feeling eyes on them as she accepted, taking his hand and placing the other on his shoulder.

The band began to flare up properly, though they were the only ones dancing. Everyone was sitting or standing, watching or stealing food. Hermione felt a thrill come from being the centre of attention, twirling and stepping with the person she had never expected to love. She had never even thought she’d love, and especially not like this.

Couples began to join in and Hermione caught eyes with Pansy and Blaise occasionally, and for a while, Narcissa and Lucius were in, dancing like a couple in love - the couple that they had always been under the surface.

After a few songs, Hermione’s feet were tired and Draco needed to sit down. They found a place to rest, one of the little circular tables set up with high backed chairs. Their arses had only hit the seats when a reporter was over, one who the Malfoy family needed to keep on good terms with. The pair wanted to groan audibly.

“Hello, I’m Madeleine, a reporter for the Daily Prophet. Would you mind if I asked you some questions? If not that’s perfectly fine” The pink haired girl asked them, sweet smile upon her face as she intruded.

Draco looked across at his mother, who was looking him in the eyes and apologising as she did so nonchalantly. He nodded gently and looked over at the reporter with a charming smile, taking Hermione’s hand under the table to calm her annoyance and slight rage at the disturbance. “Go ahead - nothing too bad, I hope?”

“No, no! Just about your relationship,” She smiled “I’d like to ask how long you’ve been together? Everyone knows that you’ve been spotted out together for quite some time now, and everyone loves that good-girl and bad-boy romance vibe!”

Hermione squeezed Draco’s hand protectively, closing her eyes for a second and then smiling fakely at the ditsy reporter “The what? Draco isn’t much of a ‘bad boy’, not by my standards anyway. He’s actually one of the most positive forces in my life” 

“That’s sweet. May I-” The reporter was interrupted by Pansy and Blaise, who swooped down upon the table and passed the couple drinks.

“Sorry, sweetheart, do you mind?” Pansy smiled at the reporter, bearing her teeth slightly.

As the reporter scuttled off, Draco was very happy with the group of friends he had managed to surround himself with. He looked at Hermione, who was still slightly pissed off, and grinned “One of the most positive forces in your life? Wow”

“Oh, shut up, Malfoy” Hermione tsked, shaking her head.


End file.
